The present invention relates to an electronic control device having a casing accommodating a circuit substrate used for the control of an automotive vehicle or the like.
FIG. 25 shows a conventional electronic control device installed in an automotive vehicle or the like for various controls (refer to the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-229678). This electronic control device P1 includes electronic components P2 and a heat sink P3 mounted on a circuit substrate P4 which are housed in a casing P5. A connector P6, as a separate member, is attached to the edge of the circuit substrate P4.
However, according to the above-described conventional electronic control device, the connector has a complicated arrangement and a large number of parts. Accordingly, the cost of this conventional device is high. Meanwhile, to respond to increasing requirements for various controls, the connector must have multiple electrodes. However, according to the conventional electronic control device, there will be no way to respond to such a requirement other than separately providing a larger multi-electrode connector. As a result, the arrangement of the device will be further complicated. The cost will increase. The size of the electronic control device will become bigger.
Furthermore, to respond to the requirements of the multi-electrode connector, it may be possible to downsize the connector by thinning the connector pins or reducing the gap between the connector pins. However, in such a case, there will be other problems such as a larger current drive control being unfeasible and the size of a connector casing is restricted.
In short, the conventional arrangement using a separate connector is not preferable in realizing effective downsizing of an electronic control device.